I’ve been using my Nothing Ear buds for a year. They worked great at first, but over time the battery on my right bud started draining much faster than the left one.
To be fair, I really like the sound quality, the controls, and especially the design. However, the battery degradation is a real problem. I should mention that I think it’s partly my fault: several times I fell asleep with one bud in and let it run completely flat. That likely damaged the battery, and now it no longer holds 100% or discharges much faster than the other side.
Still, I think this could have been avoided with a proper safeguard, either in software or hardware, that shuts the buds down at around 5%/10% to preserve battery health. Phones have features to prevent overcharging, but nothing to stop you from fully draining the battery. Yes, you can call this “user error”, but on the other hand, wouldn’t it make sense for the manufacturer to help preserve the product’s longevity instead of letting it turn into e-waste after just about a year of use? I’ll let others judge that.
I’ve also bought the CMF Watch Pro 2 and once accidentally let its battery drain completely, so I’m worried it may suffer the same fate as my right earbud.
On top of that, the number of charge cycles the buds can handle seems poor. When they were new, they held a solid charge. After a year, they barely last a couple of hours even with ANC off. So overall, would I recommend buying earbuds from Nothing? No. After a bit more than a year, mine are basically a one-bud product that cost over €100.
